Unknown Relations
by Sassy and Giggles
Summary: UPDATED! Chap.4 summary: Something's happened to Horatio's Goddaughter, Fleur, and our favorite CSIs are right in the thick of it. Secrets are revealed, tears are shed, and walls are punched nearly straight thru, along with some mixed up romance.R&R,evry1
1. Electric Relationships

CSI Miami: Unknown Relations

_Authoresses' Notes: Hey, all! Giggles and I decided to do a "CSI: Miami" fic, so here it is! This is an AU (Alternate Universe): Speed is alive, but he had been in a coma for several months and had just been released from the hospital two months prior to when this takes place; the timeline is anytime during the fifth season. R&R and enjoy!_

_Summary: Horatio's Godaughter and her best friend are causing a little chaos and havoc around the Lab; they both are close friends with Calleigh and Eric, while their friendship with Speed and Ryan are more... electric, per say. _

_Disclaimer: Neither Sassy nor Giggles owns "CSI: Miami" or any related characters. They do own Carmen Jones and Fleur Bouchard, any unfamiliar characters, this plot and this fic; so, no using without permission! Lol._

_Chapter written by: Sassy_

Chapter One: Electric Relationships!

"Hello?" Calleigh answered her cellphone absently as she sipped her morning coffee.

"_Hey, Cal,_" the woman on the other end replied perkily.

"Morning, Carmen; to what do I owe the pleasure of this call and aren't you supposed to be teaching your classes right now?" Calleigh chuckled teasingly.

"_I'm in-between classes right now, actually. I was just calling to see if you had any plans for lunch? Fleur and I are going to a local eatery for lunch; she claims that the place she chose has the best food, but with her you never know,_" Carmen Jones, a friend of Calleigh's for several years, answered.

"I don't have any plans; what time were you thinking of?"

"_She called and reserved a table for around half past twelve, which works out perfect because I'm free the class after lunch, so mine stretches until around quarter to two,_" Carmen replied.

"Sounds good," a teasing smile came to Calleigh's face and she decided to ask even though she already knew the answer. "Do you want me to invite the boys along?"

"_Why not; I'm sure Fleur will be thrilled to have the time to cause havoc on them and maybe we can finally convince them to go to that club you and Fleur've been wanting to check out. I have to admit, from what I've been told of it, it seems like it's going to be a big hit._"

"Give me a sec and I'll ask them," Calleigh told her friend who agreed. She turned to where Speed, Eric and Ryan were eying her warily and she grinned, "You three are coming out to have lunch with Carmen, Fleur and myself."

"We don't get much say in this, do we?" Ryan said dryly.

"Doubtful; it's bad enough when one of those girls have their minds set on something," Eric agreed.

"It's even worse when all three of them have their minds set on something," Speed added, chuckling. "Besides, you know you want to get up close and personal with Carmen, Wolfe," he taunted good-naturedly.

"Oh, like you're any better with Fleur, Speedle?" Ryan returned.

Calleigh rolled her eyes as the two CSIs got into an arguement, with Eric jumping in every few sentences to add something "helpfully"; although if you were to ask one of them what they were arguing about they'd say that they were "debating heartily". "They're in, Carmen," she told her friend assuringly.

"_Awesome. Where do you want to meet?_" Carmen questioned.

"Where do you guys want to meet?" Calleigh directed this to her three fellow CSIs.

"Why don't they drive up here and we'll carpool; two per Hummer?" Ryan suggested, distracted from his arguement momentarily.

Calleigh repeated the suggestion to her friend on the other end of the phone and Carmen agreed before the two discussed when the other two were expected to arrive and hung up because Carmen's next Art Class was arriving.

Ten minutes before the two young ladies were scheduled to arrive at the Lab, Horatio looked up when his desk phone rang. "Caine here," he answered.

"_Sorry to bother you, sir, but there are two young ladies at Reception who are asking to speak with you,_" the receptionist reported. "_They say their names are Carmen Jones and Fleur Bouchard?_"

"Please tell them I'll be right there, Ms. Homes," Horatio replied.

"_Yes, sir,_" Ms. Homes agreed before hanging up.

Horatio walked leisurely to Reception and no sooner than he stepped around the corner to Reception than he was nearly bowled over by a blur of red and blue as one of the twenty four year old ladies who had been waiting for him launched herself without premable into his arms. "Fleur, sweetheart, could you try to give me some warning next time?" He laughed deeply as he stumbled backwards from the force of her unexpected hug and his arms automatically wrapped around her middle in return.

"Sorry, Uncle Horray," the short redheaded woman laughed as they pulled away from eachother. As he stepped back, he took a good look at the young woman standing in front of him and smiled: she stood, at most, five feet and three inches; her hair was a dark red, much darker than his own, and fell in long layers to her mid-back with it dancing a bit above her waist while her eyes, presently, were a light bluish hazel which sparkled in mischeviousness. She grinned, fiddling with the hem of her baby blue shirt like she always did as a child when she was being "naughty" or doing something she shouldn't; he always found it amusing how her childish habits, such as her habit of nearly bowling him over with her enthusiastic, albeit loving, hugs or playing with the hems of her shirts or skirts, were never dropped and instead continued into her adulthood.

He heard a giggle and turned to greet Fleur's companion and best friend since they were toddlers, Carmen. "Hello, Carmen; how are you today, my dear?" He smiled, giving the taller of the two a warm hug after he gave her a once-over: Carmen was about five inches taller than Fleur at five feet and eight inches; her hair was shoulder length and light brown which had a natural wave to it and her eyes were a soft jade, suspiciously not unlike his own.

"I'm fine, Uncle Horatio," Carmen blushed in shyness as people stopped and stared at the sight of the somewhat strict Leuitenant hugging the two young women like a loving father would his daughter; especially since everyone knew that Horatio Caine didn't have any children. "You?"

"I'm alright, Carmen," Horatio smiled. He noticed Ms. Homes, the thirty-something year old receptionist who had only been on the job for a few days, watching in curiousity and told her, "Ms. Homes, I'd like you to meet my Godaughter, Fleur Bouchard and her best friend since they were toddlers, Carmen Jones. They often visit me while I'm **supposed** to be," he shot his Godaughter a mock-scolding look and she did her best to look sheepish and failed miserably, "working or my Godaughter decides that she needs to cause chaos in my CSIs' lives."

"Uncle, I'm hurt," Fleur gasped dramatically.

"Fleur, your Uncle taught us not to lie," Carmen grinned as Horatio watched them in amusement, knowing what was going to unfold.

"I'm not and he's my Godfather, girl."

"Are too."

"Are not."

"Too."

"Not."

"Too."

"Not."

"Too."

"Not," Fleur poked her best friend in the nose, sniggering when the taller woman went momentarily cross-eyed.

"**Too!**" Carmen poked her best friend back, except she poked her in the side, causing the petite woman to giggle.

"**Not!**" Fleur rolled her eyes and missed the mischevious grin that popped up on her friend's face.

"Sometimes," Carmen said casually, hoping to catch the redhead off guard and succeeding.

"Too- aw, crud," Fleur grumbled good-naturedly when she realised that she'd been one-upped. She pondered a moment on what she could do to get out of the situation and decided on pouting, which caused her best friend to scoff.

"You're such a Drama Queen, Fleur; you really should've gone into acting instead of nursing," Carmen laughed when her best friend looked scandilized at her statement.

"And deprive my patients of my T.L.C.? Car, how could you ask such a thing from me?" Fleur gasped, smiling slightly.

"I'm sure Speed here enjoyed your T.L.C. the most out of all of your patients, Flower," Eric saunteered towards them with Ryan, Calleigh and Speed.

Fleur blushed, glaring embarrassedly at her friend, "You are such a donkey, Eric. And would you quit calling me Flower?"

"A donkey?" Eric mumbled, confused.

"She just called you a jackass, Delko," Ryan burst out laughing with Speed while Carmen and Calleigh shared fondly exhasperated looks.

"I take it the six of you are going out to lunch?" Horatio smiled fondly at the group of young adults.

"Yes, Uncle Horray," Fleur nodded, ignoring Eric mumbling under his breath about ways to get back at her. "Do you want to come?"

Horatio's eyes roamed over his CSIs and the two young women he had a hand in raising and who he viewed as his own daughters before his jade eyes smiled mysteriously, "That's alright, sweetheart; I still have some paper work to catch up on. If you could bring me back something, I wouldn't argue, however," he amended when his Godaughter's face fell a bit; at his words, she beamed happily at him and gave him a hug, while kissing his cheek.

"We can do that, Uncle Horray," she agreed eagerly. "See you when we get back, then."

"Later, H," Speed and Eric bid, following Fleur.

"See you, Horatio," Calliegh smiled.

"We'll see you when we get back, H," Ryan agreed.

"Bye, Uncle Horatio!" Carmen called as Fleur came back and, somehow, linked arms with the three laggers and took them with her while shooting her Godfather a beaming smile.

To be continued...

_Authoress' Notes: There it is! Chapter one of UR (Unkown Relations)! Finally. Lol. I hope everyone liked it and don't forget to R&R, ya'll! Giggles and I will try to get the next chapter up a.s.a.p. I know the characters are slightly OoC, but as this is my first attempt at a "CSI: Miami" fic/chapter, it's to be expected, right? Lol. Oh, and updates will probly be sporadic; Giggles' attending University right now and I'm just about to start a new job, so please bare with us with updates and that. Thankies!_

_The duo of Sassy and Giggles accepts the three C's: Compliment, Comment and Critisism (perferably Constructive Critisism), so please R&R, everyone!_

_See ya'll lata,_

_Sassy of __**Sassy and Giggles**__ (heheheh; sorry, couldn't help myself!) _


	2. Rattling Ryan

_Authoresses' Notes: Hey, all! Sassy and Giggles are in the house! __Lol__ Anyway, basically, this chapter has quite a bit of poking fun at Ryan__, so we __apoligize__ to any and all Ryan fans. Don't blame me; Giggles wrote this one, and she's a Ryan fan, so it's all in good fun __- eek! (__squeaks__ when Giggles appears next to her)_

_Giggles: Sorry, Sass. (__laughs__) Anyway, this is a romance story; __next chapter is going to have some surprise visitors._

_Sassy: That's all we're __gonna__ tell ya'll about next chapter because otherwise we'll ruin it. _

_Giggles: Fine; ruin my fun._

_Sassy: It's what I'm here for. At any rate, we'd like to thank our seven awesome reviewers. _

_Giggles: __daxy__, Hope06, Alex Eames __Rox__MySweetTimeJommie__AshK__, Little __Kisa__, and delcolover138: thank you__ seven so much_

_Sassy: You all rock so much, it's just too awesome for words. You all just rule the world. _

_Giggles: One more thing..._

_Sassy and Giggles: R&R and enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: Neither Sassy nor Giggles owns "CSI: Miami" or any related characters. They do own Carmen Jones and Fleur Bouchard, any unfamiliar characters, this plot and this __fic__; so, no using without permission! __Lol_

_Chapter written by: Giggles_

Chapter Two: Rattling Ryan

As Carmen and Ryan sat at their table, Ryan was talking about something while watching the people passing, but Carmen wasn't paying much attention because she was so focused on the menu trying to find something to bring back for "Uncle Horatio", that she wasn't much attention to anything else. Carmen had always been a person who focused on one project than the next when she finished the first one. Sadly, sometimes this trait usually made others feel neglected of attention, which was far from what she wanted to do.

Everyone, besides Speed and Fleur, had arrived early at the restaurant so that they wouldn't lose their reservation. Calleigh and Eric had gone off to the bar to get everyone's' drinks, but had been gone for a while.

"I wonder what is taking Calleigh and Eric so long to get the drinks," Ryan commented, which caught Carmen's attention from the menu.

"I'm not sure" replied Carmen, finally setting down the menu as she had finally found what to bring back. "It isn't like them to be this long; they're usually the punctual ones."

"So, did you find anything for Horatio in the menu?" Ryan asked hinting subtly, in the politest way he could, that he knew that Carmen hadn't been paying attention to his earlier conversation.

Carmen blushed a little, when she realized what he was hinting at, so she answered his question and began to apologize. "Yes, I did find something and I'm sorry that I wasn't paying attention to you earlier. It's just I sometimes get so caught up in certain tasks that I tend to not pay attention to things around me. I know it doesn't sound like much of an excuse, but that is what happens sometimes. I tend . . ."

It was then that Carmen began to ramble as she had always done as a little girl when she knew that she had done something wrong. This ability of rambling and yet still making it all make sense surprised most people, although Fleur was always quick to point out that when she was talking "rationally" she usually didn't make sense to the redhead, and now it was taking Ryan for a loop because he had never met someone who could ramble and still make sense.

". . . to focus", Carmen continued, "too much on my tasks, which tend to make people think of me as being rude person and not caring at all, but I do care. I'm sorry for making you feel that I don't care about what you are talking about and..."

"Carmen, Carmen, CARMEN . . ." Ryan said raising his voice slightly, just enough to get Carmen's attention so she would stop rambling and he could get a word in. "It's fine; you don't have worry about it. I was just curious about what you picked." Carmen smiled in embarrassment knowing that she had just made a fool out for herself.

It was then that Calleigh and Eric showed up. "Sorry, it took so long but the bartender at the bar was a trainee and took forever to make the drinks. And then someone ran into us when we finally got them and we had to do the whole thing over again," Calleigh explained as she handed out the drinks to Ryan and Carmen and setting Speed's and Fleur's on the table. Carmen and Ryan looked at each other with that subtle "Yeah, right" look on each other face.

"So, what have you two been doing while we were gone?" Eric asked, smirking.

Ryan was just about to answer the question when, out of the blue, he screamed and fell out of his chair. His sudden outburst, which had drawn the attention of the whole restaurant, was caused by Fleur popping out of nowhere and sneaking up on Ryan, grabbing his shoulders. "**Boo!**"

"Don't do that again, Fleur!" Ryan exclaimed as he got up from the floor, clenching his chest to stop his heart from racing. "And you!" He continued, as he pointed to Carmen, who was trying her best not to burst out laughing, but failed miserably at it. "You said you'd warn me when she was coming," he accused.

"Where's the fun in that?" Fleur asked in a playful tone of voice as she sat down on the other side of Ryan.

"Yeah, where's the fun in that?" Speed said as he sat down between Fleur and Eric. Ryan just shot Carmen and Fleur one of his ticked-off looks.

After Carmen had gotten herself under control and stopped giggling, and Calleigh had told the people in the restaurant to go back to their food, Carmen turned to Fleur and asked, "So, how was the ride here?"

Carmen was implying to the fact that Fleur had ridden here with Speed on his motorcycle. Fleur just sat there, quietly drinking her drink, thinking about her ride.

"Fine," she said eventually a twinkle in her eyes when Speed let out an indignant noise. Carmen just smiled back at her best friend.

'Oh, it was more than fine,' Fleur thought, as she began replay her ride to the restaurant with Speed in her mind.

"Fleur, will you hurry up? You're going to make us late for our reservation," Carmen pointed out in an impatient tone.

Fleur was enjoying a long chat with "Uncle Horatio", after remembering that she'd wanted to talk to him about something and dragging the others back, and Carmen felt that if Fleur took any longer they would be late for their reservation and lose their table.

"Hey, Carmen," Speed said when it became obvious that the brown haired woman was getting irritated with her friend, which if he thought about it, wasn't all that uncommon; they had been best friends since they were born and knew exactly how to push each other's buttons just the right way and sometimes it was over what he and the others thought of as the silliest things. "Ill drive Fleur to the restaurant when she is done talking to H, so cool your jets."

So Carmen, Eric, Calleigh, and Ryan all went down to the restaurant in Carmens car and in Calleighs car, while Speed stayed behind to wait for Fleur. Fleur soon came out and dawned her sunglasses in the Miami afternoon sun, looking uncannily like a female Horatio. As she did this, she spotted Speed leaning on his bike. He already had on his leather jacket, which made him look more edgy and, in her opinion, handsome than he normally did. As he noticed Fleur walking towards him, a smile swept over his face.

"Hey, Fleur, I'm going to drive you down to the restaurant. I hope you don't mind riding a motorcycle," Speed told her, gesturing to his ride of a Harley Davidson V-Rod. Fleur just smiled mysteriously as Speed handed her his extra black leather jacket and helmet and waited for her to get on.

As they cruised down the highway, Fleur was having the time of her life riding his behemoth piece of machinery. Fleur had never felt so free-spirited on a motorcycle before; she figured her surprising adrenaline rush had to do with her company, Speed. She felt as though nothing could touch her as she felt the wind rush by her legs. She smiled even more as they rounded the corners, for Speed had a habit of rounding the corners slightly too sharply, causing the bike lean more closely to the road surface. In Fleur's mind, no roller coaster or thrill ride could match the sheer joy and terror that came with riding with Speed, especially since he lived up to his nickname by liking to go fast.

Soon, Fleur and Speed arrived in the parking lot to see Carmen's talking about something with Ryan, who looked rather surprised at something Carmen had said or done. Yet, they couldn't see Eric and Calleigh at all, even though they could see right into the restaurant bar. As Fleur got off the bike, she took off the helmet that Speed let her use; she also took off her sunglasses, for the sun was behind her now. As Speed dismounted, he took off his gear so he could put it in the saddle bags.

"So Fleur," Speed began as he turned around to face Fleur, "how did you come to know. . ." He stopped in mid-question for something had drawn his attention away from his question; he stood there looking at Fleur, with a look of amazement and surprise on his face. Fleur stood there dumbfounded as to why Speed was staring at her; at first, she thought it might be something on her face, but she hadn't eaten anything, although it could be a bug or something, for she didn't have the protective shield on the helmet. Fleur was beginning to feel a little paranoid now as he continued to stare at her.

Speed saw her discomfort and tried his best to get out what he was staring at without sounding stupid. "Your eyes," he pointed out. "They're a different colour. I mean, a different colour than your normal eyes." He could tell he failed miserably at trying not to sound like he was some tongue-tied teenager.

Fleur's face went from a look of paranoia to a look of relief, when she understood Speed's reason for staring. "You noticed my eyes?" She asked in a rather coy fashion, as she always did when she was about to start flirting. "They always do that, depending on what I am wearing... both in colour and the amount of fabric." Speed stood there, not knowing how to respond to a comment like that. Fleur just smiled and said "Come on, I think Ryan might need a scare." Speed grinned as they both headed into the restaurant to give Ryan a startling surprise.

Carmen sat at the table and was trying her very best to look interested in what Eric was talking about. Eric was now telling Carmen about how he came to be on her "Uncle"'s team. Carmen had made the mistake of asking Eric how he came to work for her "Uncle", for she had heard both Speed's and Calleigh's story of how they came be with Miami-Dade's CSI team; she'd wanted to know how Eric and Ryan came to be as well. Carmen decided to ask Eric first, due to Ryan still being a little ticked-off at her for not telling him about Fleur and Speed's approach from behind. When she had asked Eric about his story, everyone rolled their eyes and Calleigh tried to quickly change the subject, but Eric said 'If she wants to hear the story, then let me tell her.' Carmen now realized why Calleigh had tried to stop her: Eric had been telling his story for about fifteen minutes and he hadn't even gotten past him being a swimmer for the MDPD Underwater Recovery Unit.

Carmen sat there trying not to look bored, when she noticed that Ryan wasn't paying attention either. He was now organizing of dinnerware and cutlery in a precise order. Fleur had noticed Ryan as well; she began moving Ryan' perfectly arranged table settings. She first moved his knife, and then Ryan moved it back. As he was doing that, she moved his glass; he moved it back. She then moved his plate and he moved it back. She then moved back to the knife, cackling silently. This moving stuff continued for quite a few minutes until he got fed up with it.

"Will you cut it out?!" Ryan finally exclaimed in a frustrated tone, which interrupted Eric's story; Carmen never thought that she'd be thankful for Fleur's seemingly uncanny ability to annoy people, but at that moment she sent a silent thank you to her.

"Carmen, your boyfriend's being mean to me," Fleur complained with her signature pouty lip. "All I was trying to do was help and he yelled at me."

Both Ryan and Carmen went red simultaneously at Fleur's 'boyfriend' comment while the others grinned. "Aww, you two are so cute together!" Calleigh told them, as she noticed Ryan and Carmen's timed blush.

"Yeah, Carmen's perfect for Ryan, 'cause she's almost exactly like him," Speed teased. "The couple that blushes together, stays together."

"Again, I say: they make a really cute couple."

Both Carmen and Ryan blushes progressively got brighter and brighter as the others kept making their teasing comments. Finally, after everyone had finished their 'blush' jokes, everyone started to eat their meals. Everyone was so engrossed with their meals that not much chatting went on between anybody. That was until Speed finally remembered what he was going to ask Fleur before he saw her eyes' color change.

"Fleur," Speed told her between mouthfuls, "I finally remembered what I was going to ask you in the parking lot." Fleur, who had already finished her lunch, listened attentively and gestured for him to continue; the others listened as well. "How did you come to know how to ride a motorcycle? Most women I've met never have actually been within a few feet of one. Some have never even seen one."

Both Carmen and Calleigh told Speed his 'women' comment has being a little boosty, indicating Speed's many previous female partners before Fleur; at least they looked at it that way, even though Fleur and Speed weren't even a couple, since they saw the chemistry the two had. Fleur, however, paid no attention to Speed's comment about his previous partners; she just answered his question with the truth.

"I learned to ride a motorcycle from one of my ex-boyfriends," she explained. Her comment made everyone else suspicious, except Carmen, that she was trying to get back at Speed for his comment about his previous partners.

"Oh yeah; right," Eric snorted. "You just said that to get back at Speed for his comment about his old partners." Everyone was in agreement with him, except Carmen who piped up.

"No, she isn't," she said, trying to prove her "Soul Sister"'s innocence. "Her old boyfriend did teach her; 'cause I was almost always there when he was teaching her."

"Why were you there?" Ryan asked in suspicious tone; Fleur grinned when she heard the underlying jealousy in his voice.

Before Carmen had time to answer the question, Fleur, as always, beaten her to the punch. "Because when I was being taught, Carmen and I were always on double dates with our boyfriends," Fleur told their friends snippily, knowing that Carmen would be at loss for words. "Well, except for the more physical dates," she grinned over at her best friend who laughed in agreement, nodding her head.

"Who was your old boyfriend?" Ryan and Speed asked the girls simultaneously.

Before either could answer, the bill came along and Carmen got up so she could go buy Horatio's lunch. As she did, Eric looked at his watch and noticed the time. "We better get going, before H gets on our backs about being late," Eric told his team as he got up; unknowingly saving Carmen and Fleur from playing "Twenty Questions" about their ex-boyfriends.

Calleigh, Ryan, Eric and Speed all got up headed towards the register, insisting they paid for the group's lunch and telling the other two girls that they'd see them later. Fleur got up and caught Carmen before she got too far. "Hey, Car, would you mind driving me back to the hospital?" Fleur asked as she reached her friend.

"Yeah sure," Carmen agreed as she paid for Horatio's lunch and a small snack she was taking back to her job for her break.

"My shift ends at eleven tonight. You mind picking me up?" Fleur continued as they went out to the parking lot, waving at Calleigh, Ryan, Speed and Eric as they exited the building.

"No, I don't mind," Carmen insisted as they made their way to her dark red convertible. As they got into the car, Carmen groaned, "We're going to have to answer their question, aren't we?"

"You mean about our old boyfriends?" Fleur asked, buckling her seat belt as her friend started the ignition. Carmen nodded and she replied, "Now that it's out in the open, yeah; I don't know how long we'll be able to hold off."

Carmen just sighed, knowing that would be the answer. "I only hope that they won't be jealous when they know who they are," Carmen said, playing what she thought would happen in her head.

"I just hope that they won't be too pissed when they realize they've met them before," Fleur replied, in a voice full of dread as Carmen stopped at a red light. They looked at each other and just sighed; when the green light signalled they could continue, Carmen put her convertible in gear, continuing for the hospital.

To be continued...

_Authoresses' Notes:_

_Sassy: End of chapter two! __Awesome.__Lol__ Anyway, the characters are more in character than last chapter._

_Giggles: Which is __kinda__ sad, considering Sassy's the Die-Hard "CSI: Miami" fan of us..._

_Sassy: Yeah, yeah, __Gigg__, remind me, why __don't'cha__? Anyway, I think Giggles did a totally wicked job with the chapter; then again, she is the smartest of us two. __Lol__ LONG LIVE TIMOTHY SPEEDLE!!!!!_

_Giggles: That was random._

_Sassy: __Nya__; random rocks my world. __Lol_

_Giggles: Sassy's going to get chapter__ three out sometime within the next two weeks, at least._

_Sassy: We're going to do our best to update every two weeks at least, so you all can do what all writers love-_

_Giggles: - and R&R, everyone! We're making no promises though, so please don't come after us for updates; I am in University and Sassy is working right now, so we'll do our best._

_Sassy: We hope you all enjoyed chapter two of UR! __Lol_

_Sassy __and Giggles: __The duo of Sassy and Giggles accepts the three C's: Compliment, Comment and __Critisism__perferably__ Constructive __Critisism__), so please R&R, everyone!_

_See ya'll __lata_

_Sassy and Giggles_


	3. Birthday Surprises

_Authoresses' Notes: Hey, ya'll; Sassy is in the house!_

_Giggles (walks into the room): You may be here physically, but your brain sure ain't._

_Sassy: How rude._

_Giggles: How true; your brain is stuck on Horatio Caine… hey, that rhymed! Cool!_

_Sassy: (mumbles) Blondie. (louder) Besides, Horatio is a total hottie; it's just annoying that you didn't let me do a HoratioxOC romance…__ it wouldve been heaven… (sighs dreamily)_

_Giggles: I am not blonde, Sass. My hair is a rusty brown; if anyone is a blonde, it's you with all of your highlights: red, brown, and yellow. Besides with your overactive Horatio-induced imagination, Id fear for the readers__ sanity, girl; who knows what youd type up._

_Sassy: I am so not a blonde, Gigg, my hair is a chestnut color; and my red, black, brown, yellow, pale blonde, gold, and even orangey highlights are one hundred percent natural, thank you! (turns to readers) Sorry about that; anyway__, here's Chapter Three of UR. I'__m sorry about the long update, but I work in retail and with Christmas just behind us, it__ was hectic as all hell at work._

_Giggles: She did do up a super-long chapte__r to make up for it, though; __it'__s__ fourteen pages long, __so we hope you enjoy! Oh, and I'__m really sorry for not__ replying to any reviews, but I'__ve go__t University so I haven'__t had a ton of time to do that… _

_Sassy: Before we do that, though; a larger than life thanks goes out to our three reviewers for Chapter Two: Hope06, Horatios Green Eyed Angel (I love your Pen, by the way!), and Adorelo._

_Giggles: You three rock our socks. (__ignores__ Sassy groaning at th__e over-used saying) We hope you'__ll continue enjoying our writing!_

_Disclaimer: Neither Sassy nor Giggles owns "CSI: Miami" or any related characters. They do own Carmen Jones and Fleur Bouchard, any unfamiliar characters, this plot and this fic; so, no using without permission! __Lol_

_Chapter written by: Sassy_

_Sassy and Giggles:__ Please R&R and __enjoy,__ everyone! Reviews feed our muses.__ And now, without further ado, we present to you…._

Chapter Three: Birthday Surprises

Fleur mewed quietly as she slowly woke up, wanting to cling to her peaceful sleep and quickly found out that she couldn't because she smelt her Godfather's "famous" bacon and egg toasted sandwiches. "Mmm... U.H.B.E.T. sandwiches..." she smiled, waking up quickly when someone knocked on her bedroom door. "Come in," she called and was pleasantly surprised when her Godfather entered her room with a tray that had one of his "U.H.B.E.T. sandwiches" as she and Carmen called them on it with a cup of hot cocoa which had extra marshmallows and two large hash browns. "Morning, Uncle Hooray," she greeted warmly as she sat up and he set the tray on her lap.

"Good morning and happy birthday, sweetheart," Horatio smiled as he kissed her forehead and sat beside her on the edge of her bed. "How does it feel to be 25 years old?"

"Great if it means I get room service," Fleur grinned cheekily as she started eating. When she was part-way done, she noticed the absence of her best friend's morning routine of singing in the hallways of the penthouse suite they shared with her Godfather. "Isn't Carmen up yet, Uncle Hooray?"

"She's gone out for the day, Fleur," he told her. "I told her that it wasn't every day my Goddaughter turns the big two-five and she agreed that I could have you to myself until six tonight."

"Really?" She beamed when he nodded, "Wicked, Uncle Hooray!" She kissed his cheek before she continued eating.

When she was done, about fifteen minutes later, Horatio took her tray away and said, "Get dressed, sweetheart; we're going out to spend the day on the town."

"Don't you mean city?"

"Town sounds better," he pointed out, exiting her room and closing her door.

"What to wear?" Fleur pondered, standing in front of her closet with her hands on her hips. After several minutes of quiet consideration, which was odd for her since she was usually the opposite, she decided on her favorite black jean skort that her ex-boyfriend had bought for her for Christmas and chose a soft green tank top, running a brush through her hair as she decided to leave it loose for the day. She was just going to her door when the phone rang and she headed for the extension in her room when it stopped ringing and she heard her Godfather talking on it in the hallway.

She exited her room and was waved over to the phone by Horatio. "Phone call for you, sweetheart."

"Thanks, Uncle," Fleur smiled, accepting the receiver and talking into the phone, "Hello?"

"Hello to you, too, Birthday Girl," the familiar voice of her ex-boyfriend answered deeply as Horatio went into the living room to give them some privacy.

"Nick?"

"Who else would it be? Catherine?" Nick Stokes, a CSI with the Las Vegas Police Department, retorted good-naturedly.

"Hey, it's possible that it was Warrick; I mean, clearly, he and I had chemistry," Fleur protested playfully.

"Oh, now I'm hurt. I think I'll hang up now," he taunted and she could hear his smile through the phone.

"Don't make me open a can of pout," she warned.

"Personally, I love it when you pout."

"Don't be a smart-ass, Nick," she laughed.

"So, how does it feel to be the big two-five, Flowergirl?"

If anyone was looking at her eyes, they'd noticed that they softened at his pet name for her. "Great, especially since I thought you'd forgotten," she said quietly.

"I never forgot an important date during the nearly four years we were dating, do you really think that I'd forget your birthday of all things?" Nick chided gently.

"No," Fleur admitted softly, a small smile curling her lips. "I miss you."

"I miss you, too, Flowergirl," he replied and she knew he was sincere.

"How are things with L.V.P.D., Nick?"

"Alright; it's a little slower than normal, but it's fine other than that. How's work at the hospital?"

"Hectic as usual; plus, the crime rate's been up the past few weeks so I've had to help Alexx out with a couple autopsies."

"You got your M.E. certification?"

"Uh-huh," she agreed a happy sparkle in her eyes.

"Congrats, then," he told her warmly and they talked for close to twenty minutes about how life was going. There was a pause and some muffled talking in the background and then he told her, "Greg wants to say "hi"; does that mean I have to let him talk to you?"

She laughed, "Yes, it does; I want to say hi to Greg, too."

"Fine, here's Greg," Nick agreed reluctantly.

She heard the sound of the phone being passed to someone else and a moment later Carmen's ex-boyfriend, Greg Saunders, came on the line, "Hey there, Birthday Girl."

"Hey yourself, Greg," Fleur exclaimed, happy to hear from her "Big Brother"; she and Greg treated each other like the sibling the other never had and it showed in their interactions. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, Fleur; what about you? I hear you're the big two-five today?" Greg teased her.

"Nah; never. I'll never grow up," she retorted, smiling.

"That's actually quite true," Horatio said as he re-entered the hallway. "You can still talk on the phone for hours, effortlessly running up my phone bill."

"It's a gift, Uncle," Fleur rebutted, laughing.

"Tell your Godfather that everyone at the L.V.P.D. Crime lab says hi, Red," Greg told her.

"Every one in Vegas says hi, Uncle Hooray," she reported.

Horatio chuckled, "Tell Greg to pass on my greetings, as well."

Fleur relayed the message and Greg said, "Will do, Fleur; I'll let you off the line, so you and your Godfather can do the day out thing, since you probly convinced him to take you shopping for your birthday again."

"Alright; talk to you later, Greg," she agreed.

"Will do; bye. Here's Nick," Greg bid and handed the phone back to her ex-boyfriend.

"I just wanted to tell you that I'll see you later, Flowergirl; sound good?" Nick told her and she shivered slightly at the underlying want she heard in his voice.

"Sounds perfect; will you be online tonight?"

"More than likely," he replied evasively, "You enjoy your birthday, you hear?"

"Yes, sir," Fleur murmured, her voice whispering over his skin like silk. "See you then, Hon. Have fun at work."

"Bye, Flowergirl" he murmured before they broke the phone line connection.

"Ready to go out, sweetheart?" Horatio smiled at his Goddaughter as he offered her his arm gallantly.

"I'm always ready for some Uncle Hooray time, Uncle," Fleur smiled, accepting his arm and looping hers through it while she held her purse in her other hand. Arm-in-arm, Godfather and Goddaughter left their home for a day of fun.

Around twenty to six that night, Carmen walked through the door with two handsomely familiar guys. "Nick Stokes and Greg Saunders?!" Calleigh exclaimed, smiling warmly as she greeted both CSIs with a friendly hug. "I didn't know you knew Fleur and Carmen."

"You could say that," Greg chuckled, his arm going back around Carmen's waist, ignoring her light blush.

"We go way back, right, Car?" Nick winked at his ex-girlfriend's best friend.

"That's one way of putting it," she agreed, smiling. "Now, both of you, go get ready in your rooms; Fleur should be home in a few minutes and I want everything to be ready."

"Yes, ma'am," both Vegas CSIs mock-saluted her before grabbing their two suitcases and each going into a separate room.

When Fleur and Horatio got home about fifteen minutes later, it was to a darkened home. "Where's Carmen? She's never the one who's late; that's my job," Fleur wondered out loud; a moment later she got her answer and screamed as the room flooded with light.

"**Surprise! Happy birthday, Fleur!**" Calleigh, Carmen, Greg, Eric, Ryan, Speed and Nick jumped out of their hiding places.

"**Nick!**" Fleur exclaimed excitedly, running and practically leaping into his open arms. "This is what you meant by "I'll see you later"?" Her voice was slightly muffled by his chest as they hugged.

Nick grinned, the glare Speed gave him going unnoticed by them but being noticed by their friends as he bent down and kissed her forehead with his lips lingering longer than they should. "Exactly, Flowergirl; Messenger and Video Chat just are not enough when it comes to you."

Greg smiled as they reluctantly let each other go, "I hope that you don't plan on ignoring me all night, Red?"

"Is Gregory feeling unloved?" Fleur cooed, smiling warmly as she stepped into his arms and kissed his cheek when he hugged her in a brotherly manner.

"Mature, Fleur," Carmen giggled, rolling her eyes at her best friend's antics.

"Something going on between you two that we should know about?" Eric joked, hoping to break the tension that coated the room from Speed's icy glare.

"Nothing you need to know, Monsieur Mule," Fleur rebutted, finishing in French.

"What did she call me now?" He wondered, confused a bit.

"She called you "Mr. Jackass"," Nick translated easily.

"_You remembered the French lessons I gave you, __Nikko_" Fleur asked in French, delighted.

"_I remember quite a bit more than just our French lessons, Flowergirl,_" Nick replied, although not quite as fluidly as she had; she blushed at the underlying meaning behind his words as he gazed at her warmly.

"Okay, first we're having the cake-" Carmen started, smiling before she was cut off by Fleur.

"But I want to open presents first!" She whined, pouting.

"Fleur, we've been over this before: with birthdays there has to be some sort of structure-"

"No there doesn't-"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"**Yes!**" Carmen glared at her best friend, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Fine, then," Fleur smirked deviously, causing the other girl to become suspicious. "We'll do it your way, Car."

"There is no way that I'm going to fall for that, Fleur; you **never** give in that easily," Carmen narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the redhead while the others watched in either blatant amusement, (Calleigh, Nick, Horatio, and Greg), or utter confusion, (Eric, Speed, and Ryan).

"Oh, don't worry about it, Car-Car," Fleur said dismissively. "We'll eat first and then we'll open present-"

"No way, Fleur," Carmen cut her off. "We're opening presents first and that's final!"

"I **knew** you'd see it my way!" Fleur squeaked excitedly. "C'mon, present time!" She sang cheerfully, grabbing Nick and Speed's hands and dragging them over to where she decided she was going to open all of her presents; when she plopped down on the floor, she tugged their hands and made them sit down on either side of her.

Carmen stood there, blinking for a few moments before she turned to Horatio, "She just one-upped me again, didn't she?"

Horatio found it hard to stifle his chuckles, "I'm afraid so, dear."

"Damn," she dead-panned, causing everyone to laugh.

A few hours later, Nick, Greg, Speed, Eric, and Ryan found themselves at a club the females had been dying to go to for months, but could never convince Eric, Ryan and Speed to go to; Fleur had managed to break them by pleading with them and playing the "It's my birthday; you don't want me to be having a bad birthday because you don't want to go out with us" card.At this point in time, Fleur, Carmen, and Calleigh were sitting at a table, sipping their drinks of choice and chatting amiably when Ryan came up, "Carmen... do you... err, would you like to dance?" He went red when he stumbled over his words, but was rewarded with a beaming smile from the brunette.

"I would love to, Ryan," Carmen blushed, accepting his hand and allowing him to lead her onto the dance floor where they gently swayed to the music.

"What's going on?!" A woman screamed as the lights and music were suddenly cut off.

"Fleur, Calleigh, are you two okay?" Fleur jumped out of her chair, stumbling a little as she regained her balance, and yelped in fear as a hand landed heavily on her shoulders.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," Nick's voice assured her as she felt his familiar calloused hands cradle her face from in front of her. "It was just Speed, Flowergirl; it's just Speed..." He gathered her shaking form in his arms and held her against himself, smoothing down her hair.

"What's wrong with her?" Eric's voice asked above the screaming from Nick's right.

"We'll tell you later," Greg's voice said firmly from behind Fleur.

"Oh my God," Calleigh breathed as light suddenly erupted in various spots inside the club; the club was on fire!

"We have to get out of here," Carmen yelled above the panicked screams; in the flickering light from the fire, Fleur saw her best friend pale and lean backwards into Ryan as Greg grasped her shoulder comfortingly.

People began panicking around them, jostling and separating the group. "We have to c-call my G-Godfather," Fleur coughed, choking on the thick smoke as she tried to keep her balance and unclip her cell phone from her belt. She, Greg, and Speed kept as close together as they could, the guys keeping a tight hold on her, so they wouldn't get separated again.

))))) At the Penthouse Suite... (((((

"Caine here," Horatio answered his cell phone absently, looking through a photo album he had placed on his lap.

"Uncle, we need a Rescue Unit down at Ginger Snaps," his Goddaughter exclaimed.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" He sat bolt upright, hearing the panic and fear in her voice as she coughed.

"It just went up in flames without warning," Fleur explained, coughing; he could hear the crackling of flames in the background.

"I'll be right there, sweetheart; help's on the way," he assured her, already putting on his shoes and rushing out the door. He heard her pained yelp and suddenly the line went dead. "Sweetheart? **Sweetheart?!**" He closed his phone as he hurried to his car and opened it again, dialing a number he knew by heart. "This is Lieutenant Horatio Caine; I need Rescue at Ginger Snaps **right now!** I have five CSIs, and my two Wards in a burning building!"

))))) Back at the club... (((((

Speed grabbed Fleur as she was knocked to the ground by a guy whose face was hidden by a hoody. "There's an exit over there!" Greg pointed to a door on the other side of the club.

"We have to find the others," Fleur fought weakly against Speed's arms as he carried her over, yelling to other people about the exit and they stumbled out into the still night air with Greg and other people right after them.

"There they are!" Nick yelled over when he spotted the trio coming out of the Exit. "Are you all okay?" He asked as soon as they reached them; he was standing with Carmen and Ryan.

"Yeah; where are Calleigh and Eric?" Speed asked as he carefully sat Fleur down next to Carmen who was huddled into Nick's over-large jacket.

"They're over by the other exit, helping people get out," Ryan told them as the two best friends huddled close together, seeking comfort as they whispered assurances to the other. "We should go help them," Ryan worried his bottom lip.

"What about the girls?" Nick retorted, flaring up in what Ryan mistook to be a brother's protectiveness.

"Stay with them, Nick; Ryan, Speed and I will go help Calliegh and Eric," Greg told him.

"But-" Speed protested, seeing Fleur pale even more at something Carmen said before she nodded reluctantly. When he saw how scared she was, he shrugged out of the jacket he was wearing and draped it over her shoulders in hopes of staving off shock. "Stay here and wait for H, Fleur."

She just whimpered as she huddled further into his jacket, her wide hazel eyes transfixed and dark with what Nick, Greg, and Carmen knew to be fear of her memories as they reflected the slowly burning building. "I'll watch her," Nick assured, worry reflected in his gaze as he watched his ex-girlfriend crumble from the confident woman she was into a frightened girl.

Several minutes after Greg, Speed, and Ryan, reluctantly on all parts, left Fleur squeaked, "N-Nick."

"What's wrong?" He turned and was met with a solid fist to the face from the guy who had knocked Fleur over in the building.

As he tried to keep his attacker from landing anymore blows, he lost sight of Carmen and Fleur. "What's goin' on here?" The two brawlers froze at the voice of Frank Tripp, the initiator shoving Nick to the ground and taking off, the hoody still obscuring his features. "You alright, Stokes?" Frank offered the younger man his hand, which he accepted, and hoisted him to his feet.

"Nick, where are my girls?" Horatio demanded from where Nick had last seen the two girls under his protection.

Seeing that the spot was empty, Nick said some choice words, which would have amused the two older men under any other circumstance, before he took off to where he saw a flash of the red of Fleur's hair and the brown of Carmen's at the corner of the building. "Las Vegas Police! Stop!"

Greg, Speed, and Ryan heard him and, seeing two men in masks carrying an unconscious Carmen and Fleur, joined the chase with Horatio and Nick. "Frank, go around back!" Horatio called; Frank nodded and, calling over a few officers, took off in the opposite direction with Calleigh and Eric going with him.

"Put them down," Speed practically growled as the cornered the two kidnappers at a gate.

"Now, you fucker," Nick narrowed his eyes as he readied himself to pounce.

"I don't think we will," one chuckled darkly.

"They're much too pretty to give up, Stokes," the other one taunted him by making a show of stroking Fleur's cheek before he and the other took off in different directions; he took off towards the nearly collapsed building while his partner took off in the direction of where Frank and the others were headed before.

))))) With Carmen... (((((

Greg and Ryan took off after the one carrying Carmen while Horatio, Speed, and Nick, knowing that Fleur was the one in more imminent danger, heading towards a burning, nearly collapsed, building, raced after her abductor with the knowledge that Calleigh, Eric, Frank, and the officers would make sure she'd get out of the situation quicker than Fleur would. As they chased him, Carmen began to stir slowly, unaware of what was happening as she groaned and slowly opened her eyes. Catching a glimpse of the person carrying her, she screamed in either fear or surprise; even she wasn't sure. She held her scream for as long as she could, struggling in her "escort's" grip as she screamed. Greg felt a swell of pride as he heard her and saw her captor begin to stumble as he attempted to keep his grip on her and run at the same time. He noticed that they were nearing the corner that Frank and the others would have to turn in order to meet up with them where they'd been before and smirked in knowledge.

. . . . . . Carmen's POV . . . . . .

_'What's going on?'_ I thought groggily as I felt myself being carried somewhere in unfamiliar arms. I kept my eyes closed for a moment, praying that it was Nick, Ryan, Greg, Uncle Horatio or even Eric or Speed; I took a deep breath before slowly opening up my eyes and I screamed when I saw it wasn't any of the men I had hoped it would be. Instead, it was a vaguely familiar guy, who my brain said I should remember but I couldn't think of who it could be. With this in mind, I kept screaming and started struggling in his grip; after a few seconds, my mind kicked in and I did just that: I kicked my legs up and down, feeling satisfaction as, after my feet connected with his hip, sides of his thighs, and his head, he stumbled and dropped my unceremoniously to the ground as he tripped over his own two feet. _'__Sometimes, having long legs comes in handy… __I have to th__ank Fleur for forcing me into the__s__e__ stupid high heels; she said that they__ woul__d come in handy for impressing guys, but they came in handy for imprinting on guys… wait, did I just actually think that I'm thankful for Fleur making me wear high heels?'_ I blinked, disorientated by both my thoughts and falling to the ground where I now laid. I heard a familiar click of a gun locking into place and screamed, again, as I saw Greg leap over me and tackle the guy who'd been carrying me, who I just noticed had a gun that was pointed at me. "**Greg!**" I yelled in fear as I saw him struggling with the guy for possession of the gun.

"Come on, Carmen, we have to get you out of here," Ryan came up behind me and I didn't have time to protest before he swept me up into his surprisingly strong arms.

For a few precious seconds, I just laid still in his arms, taking in the feel of the protectiveness that was inlaid so deeply into who he was before I heard a shot and a grunt of pain from the struggling pair on the ground. "No! Ryan, put me down! Greg! Ryan, **no, no, no! Greg!**" I admit that I shrieked because I couldn't tell who the bullet hit as I started to squirm, trying to get to Greg.

"Ryan, get Carmen **out of here, now**," Greg spoke with force as he grunted before he clocked the guy right across the jaw and I saw that there was blood trickling from his arm and knew in that moment that he was the one who'd been shot.

"He'll be fine, Carmen," Ryan tried to assure me, but it was not helping because I was totally freaking out due to similarities between this situation and a situation when Fleur and I had been mugged one night on the way back to our dorm rooms in our sixth year at University (each of our Degrees took seven years) from a double date with Nick and Greg, two years ago; the only difference between what was happening now and what happened then was the fact that Fleur and I had been alone and it had been Fleur who was struggling with someone and it had been a knife. "**Carmen**," Ryan tried to get me to calm down.

"No, no, no, no, no, no," I kept repeating this. I heard Greg grunt again and my attention focused on him as he turned towards me, worry clouding his eyes.

I heard a gunshot and then the guy, who screamed in pain, shoved Greg away and scrambled to his feet, taking off away from us. "You three alright?" Frank came hurtling around the corner with Calleigh, Eric, and the cavalry right beside him; I immediately knew who shot as Calleigh had her gun drawn and aimed. Most of the officers and Frank all took off after him after Frank assured himself with a look that we were alright, for the most part.

"Greg, what happened?" Calleigh exclaimed, dropping to her knees beside Greg who was knelt on the ground, clutching his bleeding arm to his side.

"Are you okay, Carma?" He asked me instead as Ryan carried me over to him.

Silently, I nodded. "You're bleeding," I pointed out to him, my brain not working all that quickly as memories overwhelmed me; Ryan knelt down beside him with me still cradled protectively in his arms.

Calleigh examined his arm with an expert eye and nodded, smiling reassuringly, "It's just a scrape; it looks a lot, and feels, worse than it is."

I blinked and then a niggling voice in the back of my head made me ask a question, "Where's Fleur, Nick, and Speed?"

"Where **are** H, Speed, Stokes, and Fleur?" Eric reinforced my question.

"In there," Ryan said quietly, pointing to the building behind us.

At my panicked look, Greg reached over and grasped my hand with his uninjured hand, "Two guys attempted to abduct you and Fleur after Nick got distracted, Carma."

Slowly, I nodded, my brain in shock, "I remember, Fleur began to have an anxiety attack when Nick got hit after the second time and something was shoved over our mouths which didn't smell very pleasant, and the next thing I know, I wake up with a guy I don't know carrying me." I began rambling, "Fleur could tell you what was on the cloths; she's an expert with smells, you know-" I closed my mouth as Eric placed a hand on my shoulder and gestured for me to stop.

"Well, one took off with you over here and the other took off in there with Fleur, and H, Stokes, and Speed took off after him because we had Frank on the way as backup," Ryan finished in a way he thought was gently but which hit me like a ton of bricks crashing into me.

When I looked pleadingly at her and Eric, Calleigh looked at me sympathetically, "There's nothing we can do right now, Carmen; if we went in there now, we'd never be able to find them in all of the smoke…"

With this knowledge, I closed my eyes and did something Uncle Horatio taught me always helped: I prayed for my best friend, Guardian, and two friends to get out of their situation safely.

**To be continued…**

_Authoresses' __Notes:_

_Giggles: Well, I think this turned out well… (__grabs__ Sassy as she tries to run, spotting Horatio Caine in the distance) __Heel, girl._

_Sassy__: (growls) I am not a dog, Giggles._

_Giggles: (rolls eyes) No__, youre a rabid __fangirl__; there'__s a difference._

_Sassy: … __Can'__t argue with that.__turns__ to readers) Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it._

_Giggles: Our two surprise visitors, who happen to be mine and Sassys favorite __"CSI" characters, are now here and have a connection to the story. Next chapter is going to hold several other surprises, one of which is a little bit about Carmen and Fleur's pasts and why they live with Horatio, as opposed to their parents. We'll get it out as soon as humanely possible._

_Sassy: If you read the chapter with rapt attention, Horatio refers to Fleur and Carmen as his Wards when he's calling Fire Rescue, which gives you a bit of an idea as to why they're living with him. Anyway, again sorry for the delay and we hope you enjoyed! _

_Sassy and Giggles: Please don't forget to Review if you read, everyone__The duo of Sassy and Giggles accepts the three C's: Compliment, Comment and Criticism__preferably Constructive Criticism), so please R&R, everyone!_

_See ya'll __lata_

_Sassy and Giggles_


	4. RT Part 1: Secrets Unveiled

_Authoresses' Notes: Sassy and Giggles walk into Sassy's living room_

_Sassy: Sorry about the several-month long wait, but we had a bit of writer's block attack us and neither of us could get inspiration alone, so we came to a decision - shoots Giggles an annoyed look and begins tapping her left foot impatiently as her friend interrupts her_

_Giggles: - instead of us switching the duties of writing every chapter, we're going to each write a bit of a chapter, email whatever had been written so far to the other half of our dynamic duo -_

_Sassy gleefully interrupts: Giggles, we've been through this; we're not the Dynamic Duo - that name's copywrited._

_Giggles sighs: So you keep telling me, Sassy._

_Sassy: We are the … crap, I just lost my train of thought. tilts head thoughtfully Anyway, long story short, we're basically writing bits of the chapter every time we each have a spare moment and then, when our moment's over, we send it to the one who wasn't writing that part and just continue until each chapter is written; then one of us edits it. This way - growls when Giggles interrupts her again_

_Giggles: This way, each chapter will get out faster. ducks as Sassy leaps at her and Sassy flies over her head and into the piles of books near the computer desk Are you okay, Sass?_

_Sassy muffled: Oh, dear Merlin!_

_Giggles: What?_

_Sassy pops out from under the books, shaking a thick book at her friend: How dare she!_

_Giggles sweat drops as she reads the cover: __Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows__: Sassy, now is not the time to go into a rant about J.K. Rowling killing off Severus Snape and how stupid it was to kill Voldemort the way she did. _

_Sassy: Today is the day - Giggles quickly places duck tape over the shorter girl's mouth Mrrr!_

_Giggles laughs as Sassy tries to tear off the tape and glower, unsuccessful on the tape part: Anyway, this chapter shares some secrets, as promised. Also, we'd like to thank Hope06 and Horatios Green Eyed Angel for your awesome reviews and Sassy would like to apologize for not replying to your reviews, but she's been busy with the men that live in her head, or so she says. Sassy pauses trying to tear off duck tape and nods vigorously, albeit apologetically, before continuing with her previous activity Since my dear, dear friend is momentarily incapitated moves away as Sassy starts to growl again, I'm going to speak for both of us and say: thank you two so very much; you're the best reviewers so far, so this chapter is for you two!_

_Disclaimer: Neither Sassy nor Giggles owns "CSI: Miami" or any related characters. They do own Carmen Jones and Fleur Bouchard, any unfamiliar characters, this plot and this fic; so, no using without permission!_

_Message from Sassy and Giggles: Please R&R and enjoy, everyone! Reviews feed our muses. And now, without further ado, we present to you…._

Chapter 4: Rising Tensions Part One - Secrets Unveiled

"You're going to be okay, sweetheart," Horatio fervently told his Goddaughter as he ran beside the stretcher that a pale, semi-conscious and partially burned Fleur was on as they hurriedly entered the Miami-Dade General. "Don't close your eyes, Fleur," he ordered, squeezing the hand that, despite her nearly unconscious state, she had in an iron grip when he saw her presently foggy dark hazel eyes begin to drift close.

"… hurts, Uncle…" Fleur managed to whisper to him.

"I know, sweetheart," Horatio gazed at her through jade eyes that hid a storm that contained fear, anger, and the love of a father.

"We're going to take care of you, Fleur," a paramedic that Fleur's pain-muddled mind told her she knew but she was in too much pain to care and gave a weak whimper when he pressed the blood-stained pad to the gunshot wound on her abdomen.

Fleur cried out in pain when her burned shoulder was jarred by the hurried steps of the paramedics moving the stretcher as her vision blurred before she went completely limp. "We have to get her to surgery, **now**," one of the other paramedics commanded his colleagues.

"Fleur," Horatio tried to go with his Goddaughter into the ER, but he was prevented from doing so by one of the nearby Nurses grabbing his arm and pulling him back.

"You can't go in, sir; Fleur has suffered from extreme blood loss and if you don't let us do our jobs, she could die," the woman told him sternly. Her face softened when she saw the fear in his eyes, "We know what we're doing, Lieutenant. We'll do everything in our power to ensure that Fleur gets through this." Horatio's shoulders slumped like a man defeated and he allowed the Nurse to lead him to the Reception Area where she directed him to fill out the necessary forms for Fleur.

Horatio was done filling out the forms and was pacing in the Waiting Room when Carmen, Eric, Calleigh, Speed, Greg, and Nick came rushing in hours later. "How is she, H?" Eric demanded.

"She went into surgery about," Horatio glanced at the clock and continued, "four hours ago."

"No word yet?" Carmen worried her bottom lip, leaning into Ryan who had a supporting arm around her waist; Greg seemed a little annoyed at this, because he kept shooting them annoyed glances, even as one of the nearby Nurses started fussing over his hastily bandaged arm.

He was just about to reply when a Doctor in blood-spattered scrubs came up to them. "Hello, Lieutenant, Ms. Jones. I wish I could say it's nice to see you again, but given the circumstances, I can't."

"How is she, Doctor Neilson?" Horatio questioned. When he saw the Doctor glance uncertainly at the others, he uncharacteristically snapped, "They're with Carmen and I, so just answer the question, Doctor."

"Well, as you know, Fleur Bouchard suffered minor burns to her right torso and shoulders. The bullet from the gunshot wound on her abdomen, unfortunately, glazed one of her kidneys badly, hence the massive blood loss," Doctor Neilson told them plainly. "We were able to remove the bullet but in the process, the damage to her kidney was shown to be irreparable, so we were forced to remove it. In addition, she inhaled a severe amount of smoke, so we have her on a respirator; until her airways clear."

"Is she going to be alright?" Calleigh asked.

"Unless we are able to get a transfusion of blood into her within the next few hours, Fleur's body will either go into a coma for an undetermined amount of time," he cleared his throat uncomfortably, "or her body will shut down from the blood loss and the shock to her system."

"You mean that she'll die," Carmen whispered, not wanting to speak the words but feeling a dreadful need to; she gave him a small thankful smile when Greg placed his uninjured arm around her shoulders, so that she was now standing between him and Ryan.

"Yes," Doctor Neilson replied quietly.

"Then why aren't you in there, doing the transfusion?" Speed fought to keep his temper in check.

"Unfortunately, Fleur is B-. It's not the rarest Blood Type, but it's extremely uncommon," the Doctor explained. "We do have some that we're transfusing into her now, but in order to ensure her recovery, we need a closer match. Does she have any living relatives, Lieutenant?"

"No-" Horatio was cut off by Carmen.

"I'm her cousin and Uncle Horatio is our Uncle, Doctor," Carmen cut Horatio off with this surprising statement; this was uncharacteristic of her, since she was the one who never interrupted a person, least of all Horatio. As a general rule, Fleur interrupted people on a regular basis; most commonly if it was Carmen, Horatio, or, especially, Eric.

"Carmen, what are you talking about?" Greg was caught off guard, as was everyone else with the exception of Nick; he made a mental note to have a talk with his friend.

"Carmen, you know as well as I do that Fleur had no other family other than her parents," Horatio told her, as though talking to a child. "And I didn't have any other siblings except for Raymond…" He trailed off at the pointed look Carmen gave him.

"And a younger sister who was put up for adoption at birth." Surprisingly, Nick was the one who came up with this, but only loud enough for Horatio to hear, causing Horatio to give him an astonished look.

"I'll explain later, Uncle Horatio," Carmen pleaded with him with her eyes for him to trust her.

"Well, even if you're Blood Relatives, there will be no guarantee that your Blood will be a match," Doctor Neilson warned.

"I'm willing to give it a try," Horatio agreed, still stunned.

"I'll just have you two follow me, then," the Doctor led the two jade eyed people over to a door and gestured them in.

During the wait, Ryan let his curiosity over come him. "What happened in the warehouse, Speedle, Stokes?"

The two older CSIs shared a glance before Nick decided to start off the tale…

…… _**In the club, about five hours before……**_

"Where did they go?" Nick coughed as the three CSIs entered the smoke-filled building.

"Over there!" Speed pointed in the direction her saw the characteristic red of Fleur's hair several feet ahead.

"Stop!" Horatio hollered, pushing himself to keep up with Speed and Nick. "Miami-Dade Police!"

"I don't think that's going to work, H," Speed groaned, sarcasm leaking from his voice, as the guy looked back and, spotting them in hot pursuit, put on a burst of speed.

Horatio and Speed shared a look before, as they ran, they drew their guns. "I'll go left; Speed, you go front. Nick, you're on the right."

"Yes, sir," Nick agreed as the three of them took off in separate directions.

What seemed like an eternity later, but was really only two or so minutes, they had the would-be kidnapper herded into a corner. "Place her gently on the ground, raise your hands and we might not shoot," Speed commanded as the three CSIs had their guns trained on the hooded figure.

"You'll have to kill me," the guy sneered, "and besides, you can't shoot me without shooting her- argh!" A burning timber came crashing down on him and, coincidently, Fleur.

"Fleur!" Nick and Speed called as the fall from the figure's arms caused her to roll several feet away from him and towards them.

Horatio acted quickly and took off his suit jacket and, with Speed and Nick helpless to do the same as they'd given their jackets to Fleur and Carmen, respectively, smothered the flames that were licking at her, the worst being on her right side. "Gentlemen, I believe that we'd best be on our way," Horatio said matter-of-factly as he scooped his Goddaughter into his arms gently.

"What about him, H?" Speed gestured with his head to the guy trapped under the burning timber.

"Leave him burn, Speed; there's not much we can do now, anyway," Horatio replied, an edge of steel to his normally warm voice.

"Fleur is our priority now, Speedle," Nick added, icy anger chiselled into his handsome features as he shot a venomous look at Fleur's attempted kidnapper.

"Right," Speed agreed, hearing the sounds of Fleur beginning to stir in her Godfather's arms. With hurried steps, the three CSIs exited out the nearest exit.

They got only fifteen feet away from the nearly collapsed club before it fell and a heat wave nearly knocked them off their feet. As it was, Horatio was sent to his knees, keeping a tight hold on his Goddaughter, even as he shielded her as best he could. "Uncle…" Horatio did a double take, and wasn't disappointed to see Fleur's hazel eyes flutter open and a groan from her lips. "It hurts, Uncle Hooray…" She whispered, clutching his dress shirt in much the same way she did when she was but a child.

"I know, sweetheart. Help is on the way," he replied, kneeling properly and smoothing some of her soot-covered hair away from her forehead as he heard ambulance sirens in the distance and drawing near at a fast rate. He shifted slightly so that Fleur had her back against his chest and, feeling relieved that she was still alive, buried his face in her hair and, thus, didn't see the danger until it was too late.

"Horatio!" Calleigh's warning came too late as a bullet sped at them, and, with a slight spurt, entered Fleur's abdomen where she was propped against her Godfather's chest. Fleur gave a cry of immense pain, tears forming in her already pain-filled eyes; Horatio's head shot up, looking for the culprit.

He was just in time to see the guy who had taken Carmen fall to the ground, a bullet straight through his skull. He looked around and sent Nick, who was in a standard shooting stance with his gun trained on where the would-be kidnapper had been standing before his bullet, judging by the semi-satisfied look on his face, had struck true, a thankful nod before he quickly used his jacket, which had been wrapped around Fleur like a blanket, to try to stem the bleeding; moments later, Calleigh and Ryan were at his side and they worked to keep the young Nurse conscious, despite the pain they knew she was suffering through…

…… _**Present Time, In The Hospital Waiting Room……**_

"Wasn't Speedle closer, though?" Greg wondered aloud, and regretted it when he saw the self-directed anger in his fellow CSI's mocha brown eyes.

"My gun jammed; I fucking pulled the trigger before he even raised that damn gun to shoot Fleur, and my gun fucking jammed!" Speed abruptly stood up and punched the wall nearest him, "Fleur wouldn't be dying if my gun hadn't jammed!" He punched the wall again, making a nice-sized miniature-crater in the plaster.

He froze when a gentle hand was placed on his out-stretched arm, slowly turning his head to face a teary-eyed Carmen who whispered, "It wasn't your fault, Speed; none of us expected it. Besides, I'm sure Fleur would be lecturing your head off if she saw what you just did to the wall in "Her" Hospital," she feebly attempted to joke, looking at the others as well.

"She'd also be lecturing you about not taking care of your gun, again," Eric added, almost as an after-thought; the others, minus Greg and Nick who looked a little lost, all shared a small chuckle as they remembered the day Speed woke up from his coma: Fleur had only waited long enough for him to blink before she went on a rant about how he should take proper care of his firearms, because she wouldn't be nearby shopping and able to "save his stupid, although nice, ass" next time something happened.

"That's our Little Flower for you; she enjoys fussing," Horatio smiled slightly as he re-joined them. "She'll make a wonderful mother one day," Carmen hid a snicker behind her hand when his eyes lingered on Speed and Nick as he said this; the others, except Calleigh who gave Carmen a look that promised some serious gossiping later, seemed oblivious as to why Speed and Nick suddenly looked uncomfortable.

Several hours later, everyone, with the exception of Horatio and Nick who were pacing agitatedly, was dozing lightly in the stiff Hospital chairs when Dr. Neilson came towards them and spoke quietly with Horatio and Nick; Nick let out a loud, "That's my girl!" which woke up their sleeping friends.

"What's going on?" Calleigh questioned, yawning even as she was immediately on her feet.

"Did the transfusion work?" Carmen asked, jade eyes, red-rimmed from crying, hopeful.

"It did, indeed, Ms. Jones. Lieutenant Caine, it turns out, is a perfect match for Fleur; we expect her to make a full recovery," Dr. Neilson paused as Fleur's friends and family made happy shouts and shared hugs. When they quieted down, he met each set of eyes as he continued seriously, "Unfortunately, she's slipped into a temporary coma, due to the complications we met during surgery." This brought everyone's mood crashing down.

"How long will she be in a coma for, Doctor?" Eric surprised the others by being the one to ask this; he and Fleur made a point of annoying each other and pissing one another off regularly, but the others didn't figure that they were as close as they were as friends.

"A few days at most, Mr…?"

"Delko, I'm Eric Delko," Eric shook the Doctor's hand as introductions, now that the crisis of Fleur's possible death was over, were properly made.

"Can we go see her?" Nick demanded as soon as introductions were over, causing Greg and Carmen to share a knowing smile.

"Certainly, but I have to insist on only three people at once," Dr. Neilson agreed.

It was silently agreed that Carmen and Horatio would be two of those three, without question, but when both Speed and Nick stepped forward as the third person. the tension between the two became almost blaringly obvious. When they realized that the other wanted to be the third person to first see the comatose redhead, they glared at each other, trying to shove past the other. "Oh, for Pete's sakes," Calleigh rolled her, presently amused, green eyes before shoving past both CSIs, leaving the two to stare at her in slight embarrassment as she turned on her heel to face them, "Since you two insist on acting like jealous teenagers, you can both wait; I'll go see Fleur with Horatio and Carmen. Any arguments, Eric? Ryan? Greg?"

"No way am I arguing with you, Cal," Eric raised his hands in a "surrender" pose, giving the blonde Ballistics Expert a winning smile.

"So long as we know that she'll make it and I can see her sometime soon, it doesn't matter who sees her first," Ryan replied logically, smiling at Carmen who gave him an appreciative look.

Greg didn't know Calleigh very well, but from what Carmen and Fleur had told him and how much respect the two woman had for her, he figured that her word was law in certain instances; he took this as one of them. "Fine with me, Calleigh; I call next, though," he warned.

He blushed when Calleigh lightly kissed his cheek, "Thanks, Greg. You're a sweetheart." Calleigh shot Carmen a teasing grin, causing the brunette to shake her head, laughing quietly, before Horatio, with a hand in the small of each woman's back, led them after Dr. Neilson.

Eric very nearly growled at Greg, who shrugged in a sort of apology even as Ryan, Speed, and Nick laughed at the two.

It wasn't until two, and a bit, days later that Fleur showed signs of waking up. Carmen, Nick, and Ryan were sitting around her bedside, talking quietly when "Sexyback" by Justin Timberlake came on the radio that they had quietly playing; the three watched with hope as Fleur moaned and one of her hands twitched.

"Fleur?" Nick was at her side in a flash, clasping the hand that had twitched in his both of his bigger ones…

**To be continued…**

_Authoresses' Notes:_

_Giggles: So, there yo - cuts herself off as Sassy finally tears off the duck tape Sassy -_

_Sassy: Damn, that hurt. licks lips and cringes Uck! I taste like glue! Giggles, prepare for torture: you are now obligated to listen to every little thing I think is wrong in this book - but, first, faces readers Okay, it ends in a cliffy, but that's just 'cause I wrote the end. laughs evilly _

_Giggles: As this chapter was focussing mainly on the deadly peril Fleur finds herself in, we couldn't put in a lot of romance; but just for each of you -_

_Sassy happily interrupts: Meaning Horatios Green Eyed Angel and Hope06._

_Giggles ignores the sugar-high Sassy: There are splashes of Horatio/Calleigh and Calleigh/Eric. Sassy also, for some weird reason, added a dash of Calleigh/Greg._

_Sassy rolls eyes: The shippings are called: DuCaine and HipHuggers, respectively. I added a dash of Calleigh/Greg, which doesn't have an official Ship names so I'm gonna name it… Careg. I mainly added it because I know how Giggles adores Greg, plus, I mean, come on! Poor Greg worked very hard to get to where he is now. Besides, it gives the illusion that Carmen has competition._

_Giggles: We also added a little bit of what's going to become two love triangles: Speed/Fleur/Nick and Ryan/Carmen/Greg. We still don't know where we want those to go, so don't worry._

_Sassy: We hope you enjoyed this instalment and we'll see you next chapter! Oh, and if any one Flames for the fact that Speed and Nick have swore, I will ignore you. They've both sworn at least once in their respective shows, so it's still in-character. crosses arms smugly_

_Sassy and Giggles: Please don't forget to Review if you read, everyone. The duo of Sassy and Giggles accepts the three C's: Compliment, Comment and Criticism (preferably Constructive Criticism), so please R&R, everyone!_

_See ya'll at a lata date,_

_Sassy and Giggles_


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